University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Y' A I A' ., z ,.. an , X fmswvmxg rn, '12 ,, W r -yn-1 1 ,gawzxa ,,,,.,,.,X X X-. , A M ., ...V 2 , if QA , 3 rn 4, f if THE OLD UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

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HE Managing Editors desire to express their appreciation of the assistance given by the members of the Editorial Board. This issue of THE CAP AND GOWN inaugurates a new system of selection of editors, according to which appointments are not made, as formerly, by the Managing Editors, but by the student societies themselves. The Managing Editors adopted this method of selection in the hope of securing the ablest assistants possible, as well as in the desire to make the interests of the book the interests of the student body. They have realized their hope to such an extent that it has been neces- sary for them merely to direct the work of compilation and to edit the book as collated by the chairmen of the various committees. The CAP AND GOWN of Nineteen Hundred Two is thus the product of the student body of the Univer- sity of Chicago. This is the first issue of the CAP AND GOWN in which there appears no pro- fessional artistic- or literary-work. The Managing Editors therefore cordially thank those artists and authors of the campus who have contributed to these featuresg also those who have aided by suggestion and whose names do not appear on either the Staff of Artists or Board of Editorsg and those connected with the Faculty of the University who have placed records at the command of the editors. In using maroon as a cover for the CAP AND GOWN of Nineteen Hundred Two, the Managing Editors intend to set that color as the conventional cover for this and subsequent issues. 7

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The Decennial The ,Founding of the AUniversity ,G ' -' ' ' N 1855 Stephen Arnold Douglas founded the first university established , in Chicago. For a campus he gave ten acres of land, bounded by ., Q College Place, University Place, Cottage Grove Avenue and Rhodes X Avenueg and here in 1857 the University of Chicago opened its doors. 'T i ' Rev. John C. Burroughs was the first president. The financial history 'N of the institution, always troubled, came to an end in 1886 when the property was seized by an insurance company under foreclosure proceed- ings. Ata meeting of Baptist ministers in Chicago Dr.George W. Northrup,President of the Baptist Union Theological Seminary,declared in favor of abandoning the old university and establishing a new one: and Dr. T. IV. Goodspeed spoke for a new charter, a new board of trustees, and a site south of the city limits. For two years there was much conferring and consulting, then in the fall of 1888 Mr. John D. Rockefeller advised with Dr. William R. Harper of Yale concerning Chicago as a possible place for a college, and told Dr. Harper and Dr. Goodspeed that he was willing to give several hundred thousand dollars for an institution in Chicago. In December, 1888, Dr. Harper for Mr. Rockefeller and Rev. Fred. T. Gates, Secretary of the American Baptist Education Society, in behalf of interested Chicagoans, laid the matter before the Board of the Society, and this society unanimously voted for the establishment of a thoroughly equipped institution in Chicago. In May, 1889, the Board passed resolutions which formed the basis for the organization of the University. Immediately the Secretary, Mr. Gates, read a pledge from Mr. Rocke- feller for E6ooo,ooo, provided that 2,100,000 be subscribed before June 1, ISQO, for buildings and groundsg S4o2,o83 were raised. Mr. Marshall Field gave the north half of the three blocks lying between Fifty-sixth and Fifty-ninth Streets, Ellis and Greenwood Avenues, the south half was bought by the Board from Mr. Field. Mr john D. Rockefeller, Mr. E. Nelson Blake, Mr. Marshall Field, Mr. Fred, T. Gates, Mr. Francis E. Hinckley, and Dr. Thomas W. Goodspeed secured, under date of September Io, 1890, a charter for The University of Chicagof' In order to avoid com- plications, the Board of Trustees of the institution founded by Douglas authorized the new college to use the title, The University of Chicago, and formally changed the name of the first university to The Old University of Chicagof' at the same time these trustees directed that the books and records of the the Old University be turned over to the new, thus facilitating the relations of the alumni of the two colleges and securing preser- vation of the records of degrees conferred. At the meeting September 18, the new Board of Trustees received a pledge for one million dollars from Mr. Rockefeller-a gift which assured a graduate school, a divinity school, and an academy, to supplement the colleges already planned. On this day, too, the trustees enthusiastically elected Professor William Rainey Harper of Yale to the presidency. By April 1, 1891, Dr. Harper had accepted lhep roffered position, and the Baptist Sem- inary at Morgan Park was united with the university as its divinity school. The growth of the institution was assured, a committee was authorized to buy more ground for a campus, after competition, Mr. Henry Ives Cobb was selected as architect, and three build- ings were ordered to be built. 9